Wheel tilting mechanism



1952 R. w. KEELER 2,622,894

WHEEL TILTING MECHANISM Original Filed Dec. 7, 1948 s Sheets-Sheet 1JIE. I

INVENTOR. Pfl VMOA/D m (51% 5e Dec. 23, 1952 R. w. KEELER 2,522,394

WHEEL TILTING MECHANISM Original Filed Dec. 7, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1NVEN TOR.

Dec. 23, 1952 R. w. KEELER 2,622,894

WHEEL TILTING MECHANISM Original Filed Dec. 7. 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR.

P/I YMO/VD 14/ K556 E? Patented Dec. 23, 1952 WHEEL TILTING MECHANISMRaymond W. Keeler, Marion, Ohio, assignor to The Huber ManufacturingCompany, Marion, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original applicationDecember 7, 1948, Serial No.

63,930. Divided and this application Septemher 5, 1950, Serial No.183,228

1 Claim.

This invention relates to wheel tilting mechanisms, and moreparticularly to a mechanism for tilting the steering wheels of a roadgrader, or the like, and is a division of my application, Serial No.63,930, filed December '7, 1948.

In operating a road grader, or other self propelled wheel supportedmechanisms, it is often desirable to tilt the steering wheels from theirnormal vertical positions to provide more adequate support for the frameand the parts carried thereby, and to better resist the lateral thrustthereon.

One object of the invention is to provide a simple, efficient anddurable mechanism for tilting the wheels from their normal verticalpositions and for returning the same to said normal positions.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a mechanism Whichwill maintain the wheels in true parallelism one with the other in allpositions thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a mechanism inwhich the wheels are tilted to the desired inclination and retained atthat inclination by power operated mechanisms.

Other objects of the invention may appear as the mechanism is describedin detail.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly brokenaway, of the forward portion of a road grader provided with the wheeltilting mechanism; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of aportion of the front axle of a road grader and means for tilting thesteering wheels thereof; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the front axle andthe steering wheels; Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are front elevations of thefront axle and the steering wheels, showing the same in differentoperative positions.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of the invention andhave shown the same as applied to a road grader, but it is to beunderstood that the apparatus as a whole, as well as the several partsthereof, may take various forms and may be installed on wheel sup portedmechanisms of various kinds.

The road grader in connection with which the invention is hereillustrated is of a known construction and I have showmonly those partsthereof which may be helpfuljto an understanding of the constructionandjopferation of the wheel tilting mechanism. The I. grader comprises alongitudinal frame 23 having at its forward end a downwardly extendingpart22 with which the steering wheels 21 are conpec d. The rear poras.of the frame, not she supported on traction wheels and carries the powerplant. A draw bar 23 is pivotally connected with the downwardlyextending part 22 of the frame, usually by a universal joint 24, extendsrearwardly therefrom and carries the road working implement, orimplements. In the present instance the road working implement is ascraper blade 33 which extends transversely to the main frame and issupported by arms 34 which are rigidly secured to an internal gear 35,which is in mesh with a pinion 8i] operated by a motor 83 to move theinternal gear about a substantially vertical axis and thus move thescraper blade to different angular positions with relation to the mainframe. The rear end of the draw bar is supported by links, one of whichis shown at 42 as connected to a shaft 38, driven by a motor 46 to tiltthe draw bar about its longitudinal axis. The rear portion of the frameis also connected by a link 44 with a shaft 39 which is driven by amotor 46 for the purpose of moving the draw bar about a vertical axis.

The steering wheels 2i are supported at the respective ends of an axle95 which is pivotally mounted, substantially midway between the endsthereof, on the lower end portion of the downwardly extending part 22 ofthe main frame, for movement about an axis 95 extending lengthwise ofthe main frame, the end portions of the axle on the respective sides ofthe axis 96 sloping downwardly and outwardly. Wheel supporting members,or hangers, 97, are pivotally mounted on the respective end portions ofthe axle on axes parallel with the pivotal axis of the axle, as shown at98a, and extend upwardly from their pivotal connections with the axle.In the present construction each hanger is provided with outwardlyextending parts 98 and 99 in which there is rotatably mounted an uprightmember or king pin Hill to which is rigidly secured the spindle It! onwhich the corresponding wheel 2| is mounted. The wheels are moved aboutthe axes on the members ltil to steer the vehicle, by conventionalsteering mechanism, including rods I ll! connecting the respectivewheels with a steering rod HI which extends rearwardly to the operatorsstation and is provided with an operating wheel H2. The hangers iii arecon nected with an operating device on the main frame by which they maybe moved simultaneously and in the same direction about their respectivepivotal axes. For this purpose rigid members, such as rods 562, arepivotally connected at their outer ends with the upper poinof the wheelsupporting members 3'], as

shown at 63. Each rod extends inwardly from the corresponding wheelsupporting member and is secured at its inner end to the upper portionof a member, such as a crank arm I04, which is pivotally mounted in thelower portion of the part 22 of the main frame on an axis above andparallel with the pivotal of the axle and extends upwardly between heside members of said part of the frame. As here shown the crank arm Eddis rigidly secured to a shaft 35 mounted in the part 22 of the frame.The two rods 32 are pivotally connected with the crank arm le preferablyon separate axes Ma, and the height of the pivotal connections above thepivotal axis of the axle is such that, when the wheels are in theirvertical positions, the rods 32 are substantially parallel with therespective sloping ends of the axle.

Means are provided for actuating the crank arm Hi l to move the wheelsabout the axes of the wheel supporting members to the desiredinclination and for retaining them in the positions to which they havebeen adjusted. In the particular arrangement here shown a second crankshaft It?) is rigidly connected with the crank arm as by rigidlysecuring it to the shaft 15, and the outer end of this second crank armis pivotally connected with the outer end of the piston rod lb? of asubstantially vertical reciprocatory hydraulic motor [08. The motor N38is here shown as pivotally supported at its upper end on the frame, at169. This motor is connected with a suitable source of fluid supply andthe operation thereof is controlled by a controlling device 32 at theoperators station and may be one of a plurality of controlling devicesmounted adjacent that station. Thus the operator can at any time duringthe operation of the machine positively move the steering wheels toinclined positions with relation to the vertical plane of the main frameand maintain the same in those positions, the wheels at all times beingin true, or substantially true, parrallelism one with the otherregardless of the degree of inclination or the relatively verticalpositions of the two wheels. In Fig. 4 the steering wheels are shown intheir normal vertical positions and are supported at the same height,that is, resting on level ground. In Fig. 5 the wheels are supported atsubstantially different heights but are still maintained in parallelismone with the other. In Fig. 6 the wheels are supported at the sameheight but are inclined sharply to the road surface on which they restand are in true parallelism one with the other. In Fig. 7 the wheels areat the same inclination as shown in Fig. 6 but have been moved todifferent heights without destroying the parallelism thereof.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I wishit to be under- 4 stood that I do not desire to be limited to thedetails thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilledin the art.

Having now fully shown and described my invention, what I claim as newand desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a road grader, a frame extending lengthwise of the grader and havinga downwardly extending forward end portion rigid therewith, an axlemounted between the ends thereof on said end portion of said frame formovement about an axis extending lengthwise of said frame and heldagainst movement about a vertical axis, a pair of hori ontally disposedpivot pins, one for each end of the axle, a pair of wheel sup portinghangers pivotally mounted on said pins, there being one hanger at eachend of the axle, said pins extending parallel to the pivotal axis of theaxle, said hangers extending upwardly from the pins, each hanger beingprovided with outwardly extending parts, a pair of king pins fixedlyattached to the outwardly extending parts, there being one king pinfixedly attached to one of the hangers and the other king pin fixedlyattached to the other hanger, a pair of substantially horizontallydisposed spindles pivotally mounted to the king pins, there being onespindle for each king pin, wheels rotatably mounted on the spindles forsupporting the axle, a steering rod extending parallel to the axle forinterconnecting the spindles for steering the wheels about the kingpins, an actuating member pivotally mounted on said end portion of saidframe for movement about a horizontal axis transverse to the axle, apair of elongate members pivotally connected with said actuating memberand extending lengthwise of the respective end portions of said axle,means for connecting the outer ends of said elongate members with therespective hangers at points spaced from the horizontal axis of saidhangers, and a device mounted on said frame and operatively connectedwith said actuating member to move said hangers about their horizontalpivotal connections with said axle to adjust the vertical angularrelation of the wheels with respect to the axle.

RAYMOND W. KEELER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,927,679 Brick Sept. 19, 19332,162,360 Shaeifer June 13, 1939 2,247,345 Arndt July 1, 1941 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 315,507 Great Britain July 18, 1929

